Have you ever seen the Nutcracker? Do you know the story? Do you know the main characters name? Do you know the history of this traditional holiday ballet? If not, then this is the article for you!
The Story
It was Christmas eve in Germany and the Stauhlbaums were preparing for their annual Christmas eve party. Marie and her younger brother Fritz rushed into their living room to await the party guests. Soon the guests arrive and the room is filled with people, talking and laughing and playing. Then Mr. Stauhlbaum called all of the children to the magnificent christmas tree in the back of the room. The boys are given trumpets which they blow at their sisters. The girls all receive dolls, which they cradle in their arms. The children run to their friends to show off their new toys. All of the sudden the lights dim, and the happy noises go silent. A person swoops into the room wearing a dark cape. The children huddle together, then the figure throws off the cloak revealing Marie’s Uncle Drosselmyers! She runs and pushes past her parents so that she can hug her uncle. Then Drosselmyer steps back revealing a boy nobody had noticed before. He introduces him to Marie, saying that it is his nephew.
Marie shyly shakes his hand then returns to her friends, starting over her shoulder at the boy. The boy looks back at her then shakes Marie’s father’s hand. As Marie goes back to her friends everybody in the room freezes, except for Marie and Drosslmyer. Marie runs towards him, and he holds up a new wooden nutcracker that looks like a brave soldier. Marie reaches for him, wanting this even more than her new doll. But Drosselmeyer disappears, and everyone goes back to normal. The boys play their trumpets, and the girls dance around the room with their friends, until Drosselmeyer brings things to an abrupt stop. He motions to his nephew, who leaves the room, bringing some of the men with him. When he returns the men are holding a life size windup doll, wearing a beautiful tutu!
The doll dances around the stage, blowing kisses to all the children. Then a soldier doll is brought on. This doll salutes and jumps around the stage pretending to shoot an imaginary rifle. When the dolls finish dancing, the children crowd around them, bending their arms and stroking their hair. Then Drosselmyer, shoos them away and holds up the Nutcracker! Marie reaches for it, but Drosselmyer holds it above her head. He takes a walnut from the bowl his nephew is holding, places it between the Nutcrackers jaw, then swiftly cracks it. He eats the walnut. Then hands the doll to Marie. The children move to the sides of the room to watch Marie dance with her new toy. Nobody notices an extremely jealous Fritz until he grabs the nutcracker, runs, and smashes it on the floor! Marie bursts into tears and scoops up the broken Nutcracker, whose head had fallen off!
She runs to her uncle, who ties a piece of cloth around the Nutcrackers neck. Overjoyed, Marie runs to her friends and they dance happily with their dolls. After a while. Marie yawns and lays the nutcracker down in a doll bed. Soon all of the other children are yawning too. Their parents gather them and they sadly say goodbye before they are pulled out the door.
It is hours later, in the dead of night when Marie creeps downstairs into the living room, looking for her nutcracker. Her hand covers the flickering flame of her candle as she peers into the dark room. She creeps toward the couch and shines her candle behind it. When she finds nothing, she turns sadly and prepares to return to her bedroom. She crosses the room, ready to give up, when she sees something in the light of her candle. On dead center, in the back of the room, stands the nutcracker! She rushes to it and places her candle on the ground next to it, then scoops it from the floor and cradles it in her arms. She places it on the ground next to her, then curls up around it and falls asleep.
She wakes up a few minutes later when she hears sounds of floorboards creaking.
Terrified, she grabs the nutcracker and runs towards the door, but before she reaches it, out of the darkness comes the ballerina doll, in her beautiful dress. She dances in circles around Marie and then disappears into the wings. By now Marie so scared she can barely breath. She runs, trying to get back to her room, but then Fritz appears! He chases her towards the couch, blowing his trumpet at her. Out of options, Marie makes a running leap onto the couch with the nutcracker and falls asleep. While she sleeps mice creep onto the stage, their red eyes shining in the darkness. They assemble around the tree and watch it closely, sensing that something isn’t right. Then to their surprise Drosselmeyer appears and scatters them. He raises his hands and slowly but surely the tree begins to grow. The furniture disappears, taking Marie with it, so that the huge tree has enough room. The mice disappear and drosselmeyer retrieves the nutcracker from the sleeping Marie. He slowly unwinds the cloth around its neck to reveal that the nutcracker is a good as new. He places it on the floor and hides it behind his cloak. When he pulls back his cloak, the nutcracker is gone and in its place is a nutcracker the size of Marie!
Marie runs onto the stage being chased by a soldier.
She huddles in the corner until a mouse scares her and she sees the giant nutcracker. She runs and hides behind it, while group of mice creep onto the stage. More soldiers rush on the stage and all of the mice run at them. Then everybody fighting freezes. The nutcracker stands alone and slowly raises his sword arm. He marches down the center of the stage and waves his sword above his head. All of the soldiers snap up and march into 2 straight lines. A cannon is wheeled on and fires cheese at the mice, who dive for it, forgetting about the battle. Things are looking good for the soldiers when the mouse king leaps onto the stage! The mice cheer from the sidelines as the nutcracker releases his soldiers and the mouse king leaps towards him. They fight, their swords clanging and their capes flying behind them. The mouse king is stronger than the nutcracker and soon he is on the floor, still battling the nutcracker. The mouse king pushes him farther down and soon it looks like he might lose. Marie closes her eyes, terrified for her nutcracker. Then she does the only thing she can think of, she takes off her shoe and flings it at the mouse king. It hits him right between the shoulder blades. Enraged, the mouse king turns and starts toward Marie. He raises his sword high over his head, oblivious to the nutcracker who is creeping up behind him. Just as he is about to bring is sword down towards the trembling Marie, The nutcracker thrusts his sword at the mouse king, stabbing him in the back. The Mouse King stumbles, and drops his sword then falls to the ground and lays motionless. The mice sob over their dead kings body and then carry him away.
Marie opens her eyes and looks around the stage. To her surprise, in the place of the nutcracker is a boy about her age, who looks exactly like drosselmeyer's nephew. She approaches him slowly and curtsies. He bows in return, then offers her his arm. She takes it and they walk towards the wings. When they come back onto the stage,the air is filled with snow! Soon they are surrounded by dancers in beautiful white sparkly tutus that resemble snowflakes. They are lead by the snow king and snow king. Marie twirls with them until the nutcracker, takes her arm and leads her on towards his kingdom, the land of sweets.
When they arrive they are greeted by dancers from different countries, who all listen as the nutcracker, who is the prince of this kingdom tells the story. They applaud when he finishes and curtsy to Marie. Then the ruler of the land, the sugar plum fairy, announces that in return for returning their prince safely to his land, they will show Marie all of the dances and festivities of their kingdom. They lead her to a throne, and then the dancing begins. There is spanish hot chocolate, and arabian coffee, there is the chinese tea, and the russian candy canes, there is the reed pipes, and finally there are the gingerbread children, who burst out from under Mother Ginger’s giant skirt. Marie watches them all, and dances with the little gingerbread children. Then the flowers come out and waltz gracefully around the stage. When all of the festivities are over, Marie approaches the sugar plum fairy. She curtsies and then jumps up and hugs her. Then she slowly backs away with all of the other dancers, as Sugar plum dances a solo and the curtain descends behind her, covering the back half of the stage. When the curtain rises again Marie is back in her living room asleep on the couch. She slowly blinks her eyes and looks around. Was it all really just a dream? If it was then how is the nutcracker that she cradles in her arms looks as if he had never been broken?
Image links
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-1950s-america-shaped-nutcracker-180967570/ (gold picture of nutcracker please)